Knight Rider: KnIFE
by anyabar1987
Summary: Reuploaded There is another car and the driver has attitude.
1. Leanne Smith

_I wish I could tell you who I really am. But sometimes I don't even know who I am. I have a total of three different names, one is legally dead, one is pretend__ed__ and the other is my new name._

I paused as I wrote that line in my journal. I knew nobody would be able to see that confession and I would have to burn the book after I was finished writing out my thoughts. I hated the fact that I had to live a life of secrecy.

You see I was once a girl just like everyone else. I can tell you because this is my room and you are a figment of my imagination. If you were real I would have to kill you after telling such a story. People say you are crazy if you talk to yourself. But I believe it is normal to talk to yourself especially when you don't have anyone else you can talk to. I think I will stop the day I answer myself.

Alright, so I mentioned how one of my names is legally dead. I will start there in my story. I was a normal everyday girl, Leanne Smith. I was born and bred in a small community in Wyoming. You know, the simple country ranch girl who could ride a horse before she could walk. My Father was the pastor at the small church that aimed at bringing the Word to the cow folk. It was a very pleasant life and I loved being home-schooled, mainly because the school was so far away from where we lived.

A few weeks before my sixteenth birthday my Father decided to leave the quaint life of ranch pastor and pulled up our roots to settle in his home town of L.A., how he ever survived moving to the middle of nowhere, I will never know; because I certainly didn't survive in the city.

We were only in the city a few weeks when I met a boy. Turns out country living does not teach you how to pick the nice guys in the city after all. I fell for this amazing boy who was eighteen. He told me he wanted to leave the city and start a quieter life. That was fine for me because I wanted out of the city as soon as I was old enough; that is where my story starts to take the down turn.

After he had me wrapped around his little finger and, what I thought was totally being in love with him, he started using me in an accessory to major crimes, including but not limited to Grand Theft auto. I always took the wrap which got me into a ton of trouble. The police never even got a look at his face; once it became clear that I wasn't working alone he got the name "The Ghost". Someone must have been looking down on me though. I never knew why or who but each time I was let out of jail within a day.

Of course I was innocent in love and ran back to my boy. Each and every time I would find myself back inside within a week. This rinse, wash and repeat -routine went on for at least two months. I thought my Father had disowned me after the second incident but it turns out he was always pulling for me.

Towards the end my sponsor, who somehow knew my Father came out of the shadows. He told me point blank that if I didn't start playing by the rules someone was going to get hurt. I laughed at him and told him that what I was doing was all in the name of love.

That is when he did something that my father had never done. He slapped me across the face and showed me my rap sheet. I wanted to get out of his car right then and there, but he wouldn't let me. My Father had asked him to save me from the dangers of this world. In the end he was unable to save Leanne but he was able to save me.

After hearing this I opened my eyes and looked at the paper trail I had been leaving. I couldn't believe some of the things my boyfriend had made me do. I had committed some very pricey damage and I had been completely blind all because I thought I was in love with someone who was using me. I begged and locked my legs into the seat when he told me to get out and go back to my boyfriend. When he saw that I refused he sighed and had the driver continue on to his own home.

It was at his home that I learned so much about him.

"_**Leanne, I didn't want to reveal this much to you, but my name is Charles Graiman. I met your father a while back. The two of us have stayed in touch over the years and your father asked me to help you. The types of people you are hanging out with are the same type of people that I used to help put behind **__**the **__**bars. The cops can't get at him because of legalities; you are their only hope in this case."**_

"_**Why don't you just come get him? If you have experience in this you should be able to find him. It is not like he is a professional."**_

"_**He might not be a professional but the people he works for are."**_

"_**You're crazy**__**,**__** old man! He is not working for anyone. I think I would know!"**_

"_**Leanne, I need you to listen to me. I don't have the means at this time to go after them. In a few years I should but right now I don't. I need you to work with me here. I want you to tell me their names and describe them to a sketch artist."**_

"_**I only know my boyfriend; he has me call him N**__**,**__** nothing more and nothing else. When I met him he introduced himself as Kyle but I have since found out that the only Kyle he knew was the kid he beat up in school. I can't tell a sketch artist what he looks like because I promised him that I would never tell anything about him. If I break that rule he will find out and he will hurt me. I can however take someone in an unmarked car to him as long as he doesn't know that the person is a cop I should be able to slink right on by."**_

"_**I will see what I can do. I am glad you have been willing to open your eyes. Your father was very right on the fact that you want to make the right choice in life."**_

"_**Thank you. You should know that I will do anything to do the right thing."**_

A cop dressed in civilian clothes picked me up and drove to the place where I had described. "N" came out to meet me and asked who the person was that had dropped me off. I knew this was enough; the cop had seen his face and a dash cam had recorded it. I didn't smile other than to lean over and kiss him on the cheek. I explained that the person had been driving along and had offered to give me a ride.

"_**Sweetie, you should have just given me a call. You know I would have come and picked you up."**_

"_**I know, but you told me you had a meeting. I feel bad making you come get me each and every time."**_

"_**You shouldn't feel bad. I just want the best for us. A few more jobs and we can leave the city; you know you want to teach me to ride a horse."**_

"_**Of course you know I do. I think a city boy like you would make a wonderful **__**cowboy**__** with the right conditioning."**_

That is when our smiles faded. A man I had seen "N" talk to a few times but had never met stormed out of the office.

"_**Step away from your girl. My sources tell me she is just playing you. The driver of that car was a cop; I can smell them from ten miles away."**_

"N" stepped back from me and stared me down.

"_**I swear I didn't know. I have gotten rides from other people before. He stopped and asked if I wanted a ride. I thought he was one of your suppliers based on the way he was dressed."**_

"N" pulled out his gun and pointed it at me. I freaked out and tried to duck for cover. The heat of the moment still haunts me. I can't seem to wrap my mind around everything that happened then and there.


	2. Captive

I have been told that I was shot through the side of my face. I can only guess that they meant for me to die. "N" and his friend got away with the evidence of their identities somehow; the officer was found dead and the camera missing.

I don't know how long I was in a coma but when I awoke Charles Graiman was there. Or rather I was at his home in a basement bedroom. My face felt heavy and my mouth tight. I couldn't explain it any better than that.

"_**Your jaw is wired shut. Please try to relax; you are going to need it. If you need anything here is a pad of paper."**_

He gave me a free run of the basement bedroom but told me that under no circumstances was I to go upstairs. I asked why on my paper and he explained that he had a lot of sensitive material upstairs that I couldn't see just yet.

Once the wires came out the first thing I asked for was a mirror. I wanted to see how bad my face looked.

"_**Not just yet, you can still cause injury to yourself if you aggravate your injuries."**_

"_**How can I hurt myself with a mirror?"**_

"_**The bruising and swelling is quite severe. You might not like what you see in the mirror."**_

"_**Charles, what happened to me?"**_

"_**Leanne**__**,**__** you were shot. You told me you would do anything to try and do the right thing."**_

"_**I was shot? N wouldn't do that to me."**_

"_**Well someone shot you and left you for dead. The doctor's barely managed to save your life."**_

During this time I noticed that my speech seemed slurred and my tongue had that heavy feeling to it. I had not noticed this when my jaw had been wired shut but now that I was talking it hit me like a wall.

"_**Leanne, are you alright?"**_

"_**My mouth feels funny and my speech sounds slurred."**_

"_**You will get used to it and it may even go away with time."**_

"_**I don't want to get used to it. My tongue feels swollen, my face feels so huge. I have lain awake for nights on end**____**feeling my face. It doesn't feel right; I want to feel normal again."**_

At that time I broke down crying which left me sore and my jaw felt tight afterwards. I wish I could tell you that my voice was fine now but for the most part I can't even tell. There are times when I forget anything was ever wrong with me but then I listen clearly and I can hear it in my voice; I pronounce some words differently. I doubt if anyone who listens to me would ever realize I used to have a country ranch accent.

Charles tried to console me but I pushed him away. From that time till the end of that week I refused to see him in any great detail. He brought me my meals but I refused to speak to him. Charles Graiman was very nice to me but there was still the fact that I was kept locked down in his basement. I attempted to run away one day but only got to the edge of the yard. I thought I was being clever about my attempt to run away because I mean I was a minor, it had to be illegal to keep me trapped in a basement.

How I attempted it was by watching the door to my room. I noticed that on a few occasions the door didn't always shut tightly right away. It was almost asking for me to slip out and join him upstairs in the main part of his house.

So I took advantage of the opportunity and held onto the door before it could slip closed. Once I couldn't hear any footprints outside the door any longer I cracked the door open and stepped out. I had been to his house once before but he hadn't let me come inside. My jaw almost dropped at what I saw. In every direction there was a computer performing high level calculations and processing immense amounts of data.

I had seen computers doing similar things back at N's hideout. It made me wonder what kind of level Charles Graiman actually was on. I didn't ponder things too hard because I was eager to get out of the house and back to my life. I was going to find N and make him pay for what he had done to me.

I passed out the doors to the outside world and stopped to take a breath. The leaves on the trees were turning colors. I did some math on what month it had to be. We had moved here back in January, a month and a half before my sixteenth birthday. Right after my birthday was when things started taking a down turn. It had been early June when I had attempted to turn N in. Back home the foliage changed in early September, here I guessed it would be much later so I estimated that it was about mid-October.

I walked a short distance trying to find my way off of the property and to the road. Charles Graiman, I remembered, lived well off the main road and for someone who wasn't used to being out moving around it was quite a far walk. I didn't know how far I had gotten when I hit the driveway. I had been trying to avoid the driveway and stick through the trees so that I wouldn't be seen.

When I hit the driveway I realized how tired I was and from looking down the driveway I saw that I still couldn't see the road. Feeling worn out I sat down and pulled my chin to my knees. I could care less that I was still in plain sight.


	3. Lisa Scott

I don't think I was sitting there for too long when down the driveway came a sleek black car. The car stopped right in front of me and I looked up to see myself in the shiny finish. I realized that this was the first time I had looked in a reflective surface. Even in my attempted escape there had been things that could have reflected my image but I hadn't chanced paying attention.

The side of the car distorted my image but I could tell that something seemed wrong with what I was seeing. I slowly touched my face where I knew there was a bruise and I traced the shape of my nose, it seemed smaller than the big noses that ran in my family. My face seemed swollen and misshapen and I knew that it wasn't entirely the swelling that made my face seem that way. The window rolled down and brought my attention off of my face.

"_**Where do you think you are going?"**_

"_**You can't keep me locked up forever. I can have you reported!"**_

"_**I don't think you want to do that**__**,**__** Leanne."**_

"_**Oh**__**,**__** you want to try and stop me? Last time I checked it was illegal to keep minors locked up."**_

"_**I have not kept you locked up. You have been free to go this whole time, I was testing you. I knew when you were ready to leave you would be ready to hear me out."**_

"_**Hear you out about what? How horrible your taste is for the placement of your guest bedrooms? Or how about how you treat guests?"**_

"_**Leanne, why don't you get in the car so I can explain it to you better?"**_

I sighed and glanced at the reflection one last time before standing up and brushing the dirt off of my pants. I walked around the front of the car and as I walked I brushed my hand along the hood. I had every intention to smear whatever wax job Charles had done to the car however I ended up pulling my hand back after feeling the car almost shudder under my touch.

When I got to the passenger side the door jumped out at me as if it opened on its own. I know I sound crazy when I saw this but coupled with the feeling under my fingers I had feelings right then that the car was no ordinary car. I mean Charles Graiman was quite strange himself, why shouldn't his cars be strange as well. I just don't think I was prepared for just how weird everything was going to turn out to be.

"_**Leanne**__**,**__** how about we go for a drive?"**_

"_**I just want to go home; can you please take me home?"**_

"_**As much as you don't want to acknowledge it**__**,**__** this is your home for the time being. I can't change what has happened, but you can change the world because of this opportunity. I once knew a man who believed that one person could make a difference."**_

"_**How does that affect me going home to my own room? How does that affect giving my father a hug and begging his forgiveness? I think I have been wayward long enough."**_

"_**Leanne**__**,**__** you can't go home because of this."**_

Charles handed me the very same folder he had handed me so many months ago when he had turned my life onto a different track. I opened it up to see my list of suspected and convicted crimes. However flipping through the legal file I found a page that literally made my heart stop beating. I was staring at my death certificate, it was as real as physically possible and it was dated the exact day I had shown the police where "N" hid out.

"_**I can't be dead; I am sitting here right in front of you. I am breathing and I can feel my heart beat in my chest."**_

"_**Your ex-boyfriend doesn't know that. No one knows that you have been receiving treatment in my basement. Nor do they know that I had you undergo experimental surgery to repair your face."**_

"_**Where was I shot? You never told me."**_

"_**You were shot in the face. If I am right about this you turned your head at just the right moment so that the bullet shot through the side of your face. It entered through your left cheek ripped off a part of your tongue and blew off a good chunk of your jaw which took most of your teeth with it before ripping through your right cheek."**_

"_**What if I hadn't turned my head?"**_

"_**The bullet would have gone straight through the back of your head. You would really be dead right now."**_

I heard the car doors lock and I felt some pressure on my shoulder and when I tried to move I found I was held back to the seat. The feeling was kind of comforting as I realized it was some form of a seat belt without being as uncomfortable as a seat belt was at times. But I was annoyed that it was securing me as tight as it was.

"_**Leanne**__**,**__** I want you to look at the mirror that is in the sun visor now. I wish I could have told you this differently but this is the way it has to come out."**_

I reached up and pulled down the visor to see my face very clearly in the mirror. Except there was a major flaw with what I saw; I had been right; my face was distorted and it wasn't just from the swelling. The only thing familiar about the face that stared back were my eyes and even those had a different angle to them.

"_**What did you do to me? This isn't my face; this is the face of some stranger. Did the doctor make a mistake?"**_

"_**No Leanne, this face is yours now. There was a fatal accident just about the same time as your time of death. I had the death certificates switched and there wasn't enough of your face to reconstruct it like it had been before the incident. So I had the doctor use the dead girl**__**'**__**s face **__**as **__**a model.**__**"**_

"_**My face has been on the body of a dead girl?"**_

"_**No, everything on your face is your own. The doctor just used her face as a mold and a model for yours. I do have to say that he did an amazing job. I had a digitally enhanced version of your face sent to the dead girl's parents and even they couldn't tell you apart."**_

"_**So this girl's parents know then?"**_

"_**No, they don't. Lisa was a runaway; they think that she has joined up with one of those revelation cults up in the Northern part of the State. I sent them your picture as if I was representing an agency who is trying to get the minors out of the cult."**_

"_**What do you mean digitally enhanced photo?"**_

"_**I fixed up your face and removed the bruising. But the fact couldn't be any better that you had the same hair color and skin tone."**_

"_**So what does that mean?"**_

"_**There is the small fact that you are sixteen,"**_

"_**No, duh, like I didn't know how old I am!"**_

"_**Actually**__**,**__** you might want to reacquaint yourself with some small facts."**_

Charles handed me another file and when I opened it I found that it was Lisa's file. Charles explained what was going to happen while I looked it over.

"_**From now until your eighteenth birthday you are to be referred to as Lisa Scott. Your birthday is now May twentieth. I have gone through and changed your dental records and health files. You will need to be careful though because you are two inches shorter than the real Lisa Scott and your back teeth are fake that have been set right into your jaw. I have a few contacts in the medical field and I have made it so that any and all doctor's visits will be made through people who are aware of my cause."**_

"_**What are you going to tell them about my bruising and slurring of my voice. Surely I am going to sound different to this girl's parents."**_

"_**Yes you probably will. You are going to stay with me for a few more days. I want to equip you for what to expect and make sure you know all the basic facts you will need to**____**live as Lisa Scott."**_

"_**Can I come out of the basement?"**_

"_**You are welcome to join me upstairs however for the remainder of your stay you must stay in that bedroom. I am trying to cement some business deals that will get me back into the business I used to be in and if they know I have jumped ahead of their plans on my own I could lose everything."**_

"_**Lisa, you have a lot to learn about what I do for work."**_

"_**Why are you calling me Lisa all of a sudden, a minute ago you were calling me Leanne."**_

"_**You will have to get used to the name Lisa. So from now on I will call you Lisa."**_

I bit my lip and frowned as I looked back at the file which had my whole life written down. Lisa was a goodie two shoes who had been spoiled her entire life. I am surprised that such a girl would even try to run away.

"_**Charles**__**,**__** there is one minor problem that I am seeing here, I have green eyes and I am seeing here in her file that she had brown."**_

"_**I have already covered you there. Look in the glove compartment."**_

I looked into the glove compartment and pulled out a small box. Upon opening them I found that the contents were color changing contacts.

"_**Those contacts are specially designed to be able to stay in your eyes for as long as you need them to. You will have to change them every few days but you can get them wet and you can sleep with them."**_

I opened the box and put a pair in and when I looked back at the mirror I didn't see my eyes any longer. I looked exactly like the picture of the real Lisa Scott. Well with the exception of the bruising and swelling; I was wondering when it would go away.


	4. The Car

Charles returned to the house however instead of dropping me at the front door he drove around to the garage. Inside there were even more computers like the ones that had been in the house. There were two other cars parked next to this one. One was in pieces and looked like it had seen better days. There was another on the other side of that one, a mustang with a flashing red light. It was just as shiny as the one I was sitting in.

"_**I have already informed your parent's**__**,**__** Lisa**__**,**__** that you are coming home. They think you are receiving medical care in response to your extraction. I have also gotten on a very reliable source that they have bought you a car as a coming home present."**_

"_**That might be a problem. I never received my driver's license."**_

"_**Your Father told me about how you knew how to drive though."**_

"_**I could drive the old beat up farm truck; it couldn't go more than five miles an hour and I could drive a herd of cattle out to pasture."**_

"_**Well then, why don't you get behind the wheel of this car and show me what you do know? I will have you driving by the time I turn you over to your parents."**_

"_**Are you sure you want me driving this car? I mean I don't know how great I will be. I am afraid I might damage your car."**_

"_**Trust me this car can take a thousand times whatever you can deal it."**_

Charles got out of the car and instructed me to stand back. He reached onto his tool shelf and pulled out a gun. I flinched and I know I had good reason to. Charles shot at the car and I watched how the car repaired itself before my eyes. The bullet didn't even get a chance to go through the glass.

"_**I think you noticed by now that my cars are anything but ordinary."**_

"_**Yeah I think I can see that."**_

"_**I think this car can take anything that you throw at it. Anyways you might want to get used to it because this is going to be your car. Your parents have bought you a brand new car."**_

"_**You said they were buying me a car. You can't mean they are buying me this one**__**,**__** do you?"**_

"_**No**__**,**__** this one isn't for sale however I am going to be making a switch with the cars. They will never know."**_

"_**You mean you are giving me this car. As much as I appreciate the offer, don't you think it would look a little odd that a sixteen year old would own a one of a kind car?"**_

"_**Why don't you get in the driver's seat and I will explain from there."**_

I climbed into the driver's seat and eyed all the buttons that I had not noticed in the ride I had just taken. I was afraid to touch any of the buttons so I sat there with my arms crossed and looked around.

"_**I am giving you this car because I didn't save your life without wanting you to have something to help you right the wrongs. I am also giving it to you now so that I can hide this car from some of my sponsors. I don't completely trust many people and I am worried that they might use my special cars the wrong way."**_

"_**Then why do you build them?"**_

"_**I build them because I want to **__**re-establish**__** FLAG. You see the car in the middle; that is KITT or the Knight Industries Two Thousand. In the early nineteen eighties KITT was the most advanced car in existence. Some things happened and FLAG dissolved and KITT ended up in my garage collecting dust. I have recently started to rebuild FLAG and to do so I have had to partner with some people I swore I would never associate with. They gave me the go ahead to build the Knight Industries Three Thousand which is the mustang over on the far side of the garage."**_

"_**You are telling me you built a mustang?"**_

"_**Not exactly**__**,**__** I used a mustang body as the base line however there is very little of that car that **__**are **__**actually genuine Mustang parts. I however have encountered a naming flaw with the car though**__**,**__** because I find myself slipping up and calling it KITT as well."**_

"_**Does this one have a name?"**_

"_**Yes, I have been calling it KIFE which is short for Knight Industries Field Experiment. It is a prototype that I have been working on to further enhance any other cars that I may end up building. However I liked some of the things that it could do so much that I decided to go with it and build it under the table."**_

"_**KIFE, that isn't even a word, well neither is KITT but it sounds closer **__**than **__**KIFE does."**_

"_**It doesn't have to be a real word because it is an acronym for the real name."**_

"_**It could still sound more natural. I mean say I was talking to someone and I said KIFE, they would look at me weird. If you add an **__**'**__**n**__**'**__** the word becomes KnIFE."**_

"_**Why don't you ask the car if the name change is alright with it?"**_

"_**The car talks as well?"**_

"_**Well yeah, you didn't think it did?"**_

"_**That sort of isn't normal." **_

"_**And blocking bullets is?"**_

"_**You got me on that one but how do I talk to the car?"**_

"_**I have the car's computer turned off right now. I had an inspection earlier and I couldn't afford them finding out that this car is more **__**than **__**scrap. You turn it on by lifting up the center console. Inside is a fake insert, you lift that up and lay your hand on the bottom. The car already recognizes your hand print. I scanned it while you were still in a coma."**_

I cautiously slipped my hand in to the bottom of the case and laid my hand flat. I was very sceptical because it seemed like a weird thing to do.

"_**When I set out to design this car**__**, **__**I decided to leave it with a fairly normal interior. In fact all the buttons you see will actually disappear when the car changes form."**_

"_**What do you mean changes form?"**_

"_**Unlike my other cars which are very versatile and can do many different functions this car's biggest feature is that it can transform itself into any car out there**__**. I**__**f it has four wheels and an engine it can duplicate it."**_

"_**So**__**,**__** if I have it looking differently **__**than **__**it looks now I won't have any of these buttons?"**_

"_**Not necessarily, you can press a button inside the console and get back all the dash controls. And the computer can be shut off the same way while still holding the transformed shape. Have you found the panel yet?"**_

"_**Yes I have I just haven't touched it yet. I wanted to know exactly what I was going to be doing when I laid my hand down."**_

"_**You will just be turning the computer on."**_


	5. KnIFE

I touched the screen and felt the car start to hum slightly before subsiding again. I looked around to see that nothing was different with the car; that is until it greeted me.

"_**Hello Lisa, I am the Knight Industries Field Experiment but you can call me KIFE."**_

"_**Yeah about that I was thinking about changing your name. Charles Graiman and I were just discussing this. What do you think of the name KnIFE?"**_

"_**The name KIFE is an acronym for the title Knight Industries Field Experiment."**_

"_**I know it is but KIFE isn't a word that is very polite."**_

"_**If you feel more comfortable calling me KnIFE then you may continue to do so."**_

"_**It doesn't have much personality does it?"**_

I turned to Charles and looked him in the eyes.

"_**Well it hasn't had the chance to build one up. The computer doesn't have a driver to bond to yet. You could have classified the original KITT as alive **__**when **__**it was decommissioned. It felt and had connected with its driver. KnIFE will eventually get that way with you. You will know everything about each other and rely on each other as well."**_

"_**Alright**__**,**__** that is very weird."**_

"_**It might be weird but you are taking it all very well."**_

"_**Can I pass on the driving lessons for today? I need to think everything over and let it digest."**_

"_**Of course, but don't forget your file. You need to have everything in there memorized by the end of the week. Do you want to join me for dinner?"**_

"_**I think I will pass this evening. Could you bring it down to me?"**_

I left the garage and found my way to the basement. I pulled the door tight and threw myself onto my bed.

When I awoke the folder was lying open next to me and there was a plate of food sitting on the table. I could tell it was stone cold by now. That was when I noticed the full length mirror that now stood in the corner of my room. I stood up and walked to it so I could look at myself in the mirror. I found that I was less startled by my appearance than I had been earlier.

After I grew tired of staring at my face in the mirror I turned back to my bed and resigned myself to studying my new identity. I got past the basic details and I was getting bored, not tired bored just bored so I stood up and went to the door. Upon opening the door I found that the whole main room was dark.

I made my way to the garage where I opened up KnIFE's door and sat behind the driver's seat. Noticing that there wasn't any response I reached into the console and turned the computer on.

"_**Hello Lisa, my database tells me that you should be in bed at this hour."**_

"_**I slept all afternoon and evening. I can't fall asleep right now. I thought I would come up here and study you a little more. I mean we are going to be partners after all."**_

"_**Yes, I have been studying your background**__**,**__** Lisa**__**,**__** and it seems to be very unfortunate."**_

"_**What do you mean?"**_

"_**You were shot in the face and the person you really are is legally dead. The person you are pretending to be has been living in a cult group where she has been tortured."**_

"_**I figured out some of that. Yes**__**,**__** I guess my life has been unfortunate."**_

KnIFE and I talked for about an hour about various things. I learned directly from him what all his core functions were and how to use each and every one. I however don't remember falling asleep right there behind the wheel.

"_**Lisa!"**_

I opened my eyes and looked around to the bright light that shone through the garage. I had to figure out where the voice was coming from. The name Lisa needed to go away. Then I remembered that I was Lisa now and that I was sitting in a talking car. The voice however didn't come from KnIFE; it came from outside the car. Charles was outside the car and he looked anxious.

"_**Good thing I looked down here before my sponsor got here. She is not to see you or know that KnIFE is also a talking car."**_

"_**I couldn't sleep last night so I came down here and talked with KnIFE. I must have fallen asleep."**_

"_**Could you shut down KnIFE, he responds to your voice codes now and you need to get used to deactivating him. Tell him to transform into a blue mustang. And then tell him to hibernate."**_

"_**KnIFE**__**,**__** scan that mustang and become a blue one and then hibernate."**_

I watched as KnIFE transformed color and shape before shutting off.

"_**KnIFE is still active however if you didn't know, you wouldn't know he was a special car would you?"**_

"_**It seems like quite the ordinary car, even the paint job looks normal."**_

"_**Yes, KnIFE's computer is running though, the car can't talk back or drive itself. If the computer was fully off you would have to drive the car manually."**_

"_**So basically the car can pass as your run-of-the-mill automatic car?"**_

"_**Look inside quickly and then please go back to your room. I will knock for you when you can come back out."**_

I opened the car door and looked at just how normal the inside looked however when I peeked into the console I saw that it was still the custom built super computer node. I stood up and shut the door before walking to my room. Curious to find out who was coming over I sat next to the door and held it open slightly.


	6. Enter the Life

I heard Charles Graiman go to the door and a woman answer. They seemed to be slightly friendly with each other. However the other woman had a tone that said she was here for business. They talked about selling something before walking off towards the garage.

After they were out of ear shot I returned to my bed and picked up the file folder. Upon realizing that Lisa had brown eyes I stood up and looked back in the mirror to see that indeed the contacts I had been wearing the day before were still in my eyes and didn't feel uncomfortable at all. I held up a picture of the real Lisa and really could see myself in her.

It felt really weird to know that I was a doppelganger for a real person. No matter how dead they were. Even from yesterday I could tell a difference in the swelling. My dark mark by the corner of my left eye already seemed lighter and my cheeks seemed to be a little less puffy.

Maybe there was a chance that I could look fairly normal in the next week. I didn't quite understand it though because if my accident had been three months ago how I still was all bruised. I deduced that there had to have been multiple surgeries to make my face look as flawless as this. I resigned myself again to looking at my file.

The door creaked open a little bit later as I was pacing the length of the room holding the folder. I had nearly fallen asleep trying to read my file so I was making a game out of reading through it.

"_**My Mother's name is Linda Katherine Scott and her maiden name was Parker. My father's name is George Liam Scott. My Best friend's name is Allison Lewis and we met in kindergarten."**_

"_**How is the studying coming along?"**_

"_**Boring! There has to be a better way to learn all of this."**_

"_**Hand me the folder, let me see how much you have learned."**_

I started to bite my finger nails as I handed him the folder and stopped pacing the floor.

"_**When were you born?"**_

"_**Oh that is an easy one, March fifth, nineteen ninety one."**_

"_**Not your birthday, Lisa's. People are going to be asking you this."**_

"_**Oh, that's right! Umm, May twentieth nineteen ninety one."**_

"_**Alright, practice that one a bit more. You can't slip up at all. When I hand you over to the agency you have to be able to do this perfectly. What is your address?"**_

"_**Sixteen eight seventy Addison Street, Encino California."**_

"_**Very good, what is your full name?"**_

"_**Lisa Jane Rose Scott. I have two middle names but when writing out my name I prefer Rose and eventually want to change my name so that my name reads Lisa Rose Scott."**_

"_**You shouldn't be selling yourself short; you are getting more than I thought you would."**_

"_**My parents' names are Linda Katherine and George Liam Scott and I call them Mom and Dad. My best friend's name is Allison Lewis and I dated a boy last year named Gregory. My Father is a science professor at DeVry and my Mother is a doctor at the Encino surgical medical center. Is her being a surgeon going to put my cover at risk?"**_

"_**No from a study that was done to make sure you weren't abused it was made pretty clear that she was fairly withdrawn from your life. You and your Father are much closer than she ever was."**_

"_**Ok could you please stop it they aren't my family yet."**_

"_**Yes they are your family. The minute I had Leanne's death certificate signed you became Lisa."**_

"_**Maybe I didn't want this. Once I turn eighteen you can't stop me from changing my name to Leanne."**_

"_**But you won't, do you know how much you will upset the delicate balance of things by doing that?"**_

"_**You didn't have to change my face; you could have asked my father for a picture or something and used that to recreate my face."**_

"_**But then you know who would know you were alive and he would come after you."**_

"_**I don't care! Will you just leave me alone?"**_

I turned away from Charles and crossed my arms before sitting in a corner abandoning my study.

The week went on and I did indeed keep studying although I wasn't happy about it.

On Saturday Charles brought me a new outfit down to my room.

"_**Are you ready to go meet your family?"**_

"_**Are you sure you can't just pre-program me?"**_

"_**Lisa, I am giving you a second chance here. Please don't blow it. Finish high school and you can join my team that I am assembling. You will be fine, remember I am going to switch your car that your parents are giving you KnIFE."**_

"_**Yeah**__**,**__** that is the only good thing."**_

He took me by the arm and escorted me to a waiting taxi and helped me get into it.

"_**I will be in touch and please don't damage my car."**_

I shrugged it off and stared ahead as the driver took me to an undisclosed location to switch with another car that would take me to rendezvous with my family. I had everything written down in a journal just in case I felt I needed to review anything.

The driver tried to talk to me but I kept my head down and read over my journal. I was feeling very insecure as this was the first time I had been around anyone but Charles since my accident and I knew my face was still not clear of the bruising. Apparently as far as my parents' knew my injuries were from a violent extraction. He said that there had also been torture so that would explain my voice.

After my ride had been switched I was taken to a meeting place where a social worker met me and began explaining to me that he was going to be handing me over to my legal guardians. I went through the motions and smiled slightly.

Charles had explained to me the scenario so when they asked questions I just shook my head yes or no to answer. I was not happy about all this and I still am fighting this. But for now I have to resign myself to this fate.

I smiled slightly when my parents walked into the room; they looked just like the pictures I had memorized. My mother hugged me and kissed me but I could feel the distance that was supposedly between us. My Father stood there and scolded me.

"_**Lisa! I NEVER want you to pull a stunt like that again!"**_

"_**Yes darling**__**,**__** you had us so worried that we didn't know what was going on. You should have talked to us about wanting to find religion properly."**_

"_**Mom, it wasn't like that. I loved someone dearly and I wanted to be with someone."**_

I stood up and protested, I didn't know exactly why Lisa would do something like that but I was guessing. People did stupid things in the name of love. That was why I was standing there in the first place.

I remained silent during the rest of the discussion and just went through the motions until they stood up and took my bag. I was told I could go with them so I walked slowly behind them until we got to the car.

My father opened the door for me and I sat in the backseat looking out the window. They talked to me during the whole trip but I didn't say anything to them. They told me about how they had gotten me a car to replace the one that I had taken. Though they told me I was going to have a curfew and could only take it out at approved times.


	7. The First Day

Once we got to the house I followed the diagram that I had to the direction of my room which is where I stayed for the rest of the evening. My new parents called me for dinner but I ignored them and carried on with my task of rearranging what was now my room and trying on my clothes. I may be two inches shorter than the real Lisa but luckily enough we had the same length legs so I would be able to get by with her pants and skirts for the most part. I however swam in her shirts and the sleeves were slightly long on me.

Evidently skipping dinner was not an alright thing to do in this house hold. When it had been me and my real dad we had always been easy going with meals. We spent enough time together on the trails that when we were at home we didn't make too big of a fuss over meals. Seeing my new father's face at me not coming down I made a mental note to always be at the table.

"_**Lisa, I don't know how it was with those people but here we must eat together**__**. W**__**hen you are called you need to come to the table. Your Mother feels that you ran away because she wasn't part of your life. She is a busy woman but has decided to make an effort to at least eat dinner with us every evening."**_

"_**Oh, so you mean we get to play family over the dinner table? How nice, if I had known that maybe I wouldn't have agreed to come back. At least no one told me when to do things there."**_

"_**Lisa, we want to make things right **__**for **__**you."**_

I stormed out of the bedroom and down to the dining room where the table was set way too fancy for a meal of some sort of take out. Linda was sitting at one end of the table while George sat at the other quite a distance from each other. It said nothing about being a happy family.

I glanced from side to side as they served their plates and passed the food around to me. I eyeballed it and took small portions. I gagged on the first bite of food there was way too much salt and that was saying something because I had noticed that some of my sense of taste was screwy as a result of having part of my tongue ripped off. I pushed the plate aside and stood up.

"_**You call yourself a doctor and you are willingly eating this food, I hate to see what you recommend to your patients."**_

"_**Lisa, this is **__**one of **__**your favorites. I ordered them just for you."**_

"_**You know what I would like? If you want to seem more like a family and really wanted to welcome me home you could have cooked my favorite food instead of letting some restaurant make it for you. You could also sit a little closer together and make us look like a happy family."**_

"_**Lisa**__**,**__** I want to have dinner with you but I have a busy schedule and your father doesn't get back from his classes until late. We are just going to have to suffice with take out or frozen heat up meals."**_

"_**What about me? I did learn to cook you know. I can cook for us; I get out of school in plenty of time."**_

"_**Lisa**__**,**__** we couldn't ask that of you sweetie but thank you very much."**_

"_**Why can't you ask me? Maybe if I had more to do around the house I wouldn't be tempted to run all over and make trouble."**_

"_**Linda**__**,**__** she does have a point and if she wants to do this for us, then we shouldn't stop her."**_

I sighed and sat back in my seat and stared at the disgusting mess on my plate. I couldn't wait to cook dinner the following night. I was sure anything could be better than this sub-par take out. I couldn't even tell what ethnicity it was supposed to be.

I went on to cook for my family and they didn't bring up school for a couple weeks. Evidently psychiatrists had recommended that they keep me at home to make sure I was stable mentally and physically to return to an educational institution.


	8. Enter the new normal

"_**Lisa**__**,**__** have you called Allison since you got home?"**_

"_**No**__**,**__** why? She hasn't called me."**_

"_**Lisa, she has been your best friend. I know things are different now but you need to talk to her. Apparently her mother said she has been worrying about you."**_

I sighed and put my book down before standing up and going to my room. I was not about to have Linda or George see that I clearly didn't know Allison's phone number. Once I was locked into my room I pulled out my journal and flipped to the must know phone numbers. In hindsight I should have just programmed them into my cell phone but that sounded too easy and plus I enjoy memorizing things. I listened to the phone ring before hearing the phone pick up. I needed to remember to keep this natural so I braced myself.

"_**Hey Ally!"**_

"_**Lisa**__**,**__** is that you?"**_

"_**Yeah it's me. How are you doing?"**_

"_**Don't ask me how I am doing and you know I hate being called Ally. Where do you think you can get off being home for the last two weeks and not calling me? I thought we were best friends."**_

"_**I have had a lot of things on my mind**__**,**__** Allison. You know that cult camp was no piece of cake. Once I got there I realized my mistake but do you know how hard it is to leave a place like that?"**_

"_**You should have realized your mistake the day you decided to skip school to check that type of thing out."**_

"_**Look**__**,**__** I heard that you were worried about me. If you are just going to yell my ear off then I will just hang up. I don't need to be sitting here with my phone a foot from my ear."**_

"_**Can you come over?"**_

"_**Uhh, I have a new car but the over lords won't let me drive it. It is so totally unfair. It is sitting in the garage taunting me."**_

"_**I am going to hang out with Derek but then I will stop by."**_

"_**Ok, have fun."**_

"_**Lisa, something is up with you. You don't just have fun with Derek, you have a crazy time."**_

"_**Oh**__**,**__** hey Ally**__**,**__** I need to go get something from the kitchen but my phone is charging. Can I get going?"**_

"_**Yeah, I will be over about three. Is that alright?"**_

"_**Sounds great, I will see you at three."**_

I shut my phone and threw it on the table. That had to be the hardest thing I had ever done. I had to say that by now lying had gotten easier. George, as I was taking to refer to him in my head, had had several fellow professors over to the house since I had gotten home.

I moved over to my bookshelf and pulled off the most recent year book that was on my shelf. I took note that it was for the previous school year. On the inside cover it read that sophomore year had been a blast. I flipped through the pages and found a Derek with a big heart around his picture. Derek was fairly cute but not my style, if Lisa had been hot over him I had better come up with a big excuse as to why I wasn't going to chase after him.

Unlocking my door I went out to the garage and looked at the car sitting there taunting me. I had been checking every day to see when Charles Graiman would fulfil his promise. I had been here almost two weeks and he still hadn't switched the cars out. I was beginning to wonder if he really was and if I would ever see KnIFE again.

Sitting in the front seat I opened up the console and pried under the insert. To my surprise it was a fake and underneath at the bottom of the compartment was the hand scanner. I grinned the biggest grin I could and laid my hand on the bottom.

"_**Hello Lisa, how have you been?"**_

"_**As well as can be expected KnIFE. What took Charles Graiman so long to get you here?"**_

"_**Your parents were always about. He had to wait until the house was empty. You also have some incredibly nosey neighbors."**_

"_**Yeah I found that out the other day."**_

"_**Your face looks much better. Charles Graiman said in a few weeks you should be able to start training lightly."**_

"_**Excuse me?"**_

"_**You are going to need to train your body if you want to be a proper driver for me."**_

"_**Yeah alright, we will see about that."**_

"_**Do you want to go out for a drive?"**_

"_**I can't leave right now. I am pretty much not allowed to leave this house. I haven't even returned to school yet. But at this time I have a car but I can't go out."**_

"_**I am sorry**__**,**__** Lisa. I detect someone moving towards the garage."**_

"_**KnIFE**__**,**__** hibernate."**_

I shut back down KnIFE's computer and placed the console back to the way it should be. I had thought George would have left for his classes by now. Climbing out of the car I sighed with relief only to panic when George came into the garage.

"_**Lisa, My car is in the shop I am going to have to take your car to work. Do you know where the keys are?"**_

"_**Keys, oh I don't know I haven't taken them. I mean you won't allow me to go out."**_

I panicked, did KnIFE have keys? I had never used keys at Charles's house. KnIFE had always started himself up. I opened the door and felt my hand on the side of the steering wheel and felt relieved when I noticed that there was a slot for the key. Looking down on the passenger seat I saw that there was a set of keys laying there.

"_**Dad**__**,**__** someone put the keys on the seat."**_

"_**Thanks**__**,**__** Sweet heart."**_

I watched as George rolled off in KnIFE and I prayed that nothing would happen to show that KnIFE was not an ordinary car. He was crash proof and bullet resistant and who knows what else. Hopefully Charles had taken into account that others driving KnIFE was going to happen once in a while."

At three I pulled out an attempted cookie recipe from the oven and sighed as there was a knock at the door. I knew it had to be Allison and I wasn't completely looking forward to meeting up with her. I mean Lisa and she had been friends for years and I was sure they had shared several secrets throughout the years. Secrets I would never know and would be totally out of the loop.

"_**Did I really grow taller than you?"**_

"_**I guess you did."**_

I shrugged as I held the door open and she towered over me although she was wearing heels and I was barefoot. I was not about to make out a point that I was two inches shorter. So far Linda and George had not seemed to notice. Linda had made me go for a doctor's appointment to make sure everything was alright with my face. My medical file indeed listed my height accurately and not what Lisa should have measured.

We spent the afternoon talking and catching up. I did most of the listening though and tried to pretend to know about what she was talking about. Allison started to protest when I told her I had to make dinner but she came with me to the kitchen although she sat on the kitchen counter and tried to dip her fingers in the batter I had to make.

"_**When **__**did **__**you start cooking?"**_

"_**In the camp, we all had to help out there. I might not like everything that I experienced there but I learned to respect what I put into my body."**_

"_**So?"**_

"_**Mom has this weird thing that I will leave again if we don't eat dinner together. It**__**'s**__** as if ten minutes around the table is going to change our relationship."**_

"_**Not likely, she has never gone shopping or even wanted to get manicures or pedicures with you. I say that is why my Mom and I are tight; we go out and do girl things every few days. But how does this family time surmount to your cooking?"**_

"_**Let's put it this way**__**;**__** if I don't cook I have to endure eating the cheapest**__**,**__** grossest take out Mom decides she wants on the way home from work. My first night home she ordered from Uncle Chen's. I thought I was going to gag."**_

"_**That's weird, **__**it's**__** not even like it is on her way home. She used to have better taste **__**than **__**that as well. Your Mom used to be the best at finding take-out food."**_

"_**Well I don't know what happened, because I definitely think that food poisoning was in the game there."**_

Just as we changed the topic and started to laugh over stupid things boys did George walked in. I greeted him and begged him to watch the food for a minute so I could show off my car. Allison eagerly jumped off of the counter and followed me to the garage.

"_**You are so lucky!"**_

"_**I like it."**_

"_**Just like it? This car is amazing; your parents really bought you this car?"**_

"_**Yeah**__**,**__** but I haven't been allowed to drive it yet. It sits in the garage and taunts me."**_

"_**Hopefully they will let you drive it to school at least once."**_

"_**Oh I know that would be entirely sick."**_

"_**Oh yeah, you know that Kyle and Josh would be all over you."**_

"_**I think I like."**_

"_**You had better not make Amy or Caroline mad though."**_

I locked the car back up and went back into the house where Allison started peppering questions on George.

"_**Hey Mr. Scott, when is Lisa going to return to school?"**_

"_**Yeah Dad, I think I have been home long enough to feel up to going to school."**_

"_**Well, I have been talking it over with your Mother**__**,**__** Lisa."**_

"_**Uh oh**__**,**__** your face doesn't look too promising."**_

"_**What is to talk about**__**,**__** Mr. Scott?"**_

"_**We feel that Lisa should go to a different school at least for the rest of this year. We have an interview at Louisville High school tomorrow morning."**_

"_**Not Louisville**__**,**__** Mr. Scott! They are freaks over there. You have to wear horrible uniforms and there is no room for self-expression in anything. You can't even dye your hair."**_

"_**Dad, I can't believe this is the first I am hearing about this. This is my social life you are talking about."**_

"_**Your Mother seems to have this idea in her head that you would be happier at a religious school. She also thinks that more structure **__**than **__**we have been able to provide for you would be better."**_

"_**That is totally not fair. I thought I would always go to school with Allison."**_

"_**They are a very good school, with a very good academic reputation."**_


	9. Interview

I spun on my heel and cursed loudly as I flipped what was cooking on the stove. Allison told me she had to get going but that she would be calling. I finished cooking dinner and then stormed to my room telling George that I wasn't going to be joining them that evening because I wasn't feeling well.

The next day I resigned myself to obey my parents and went to the interview at Louisville. I sat through it and watched to see if I could spot a Nun in the crowds that walked back and forth past the window. The girls were indeed dressed all the same in either skirts or uniform pants and there were no boys anywhere.

To my surprise I didn't see anyone that actually stood out as a blatant Nun like you see on the TV. I just wished they could have found me a protestant based Christian School. At least that way I could have blended in and known the doctrine a little better. I guess it was better this way seeing as Lisa wasn't supposed to have any knowledge of religion except for her adventures that never happened in the cult camp.

"_**Well aside from your daughter's little adventure this summer her records look clean and very promising. I do want to stress that we will not take lightly her trying to convert our students towards a cult religion."**_

"_**Lisa has not talked anything about her experiences and has as much told us that her decisions were wrong."**_

"_**I am sure Mrs. Scott, but the matter still remains that she was there for five months."**_

"_**I am sorry to rush this up but I have a class in an hour that is fairly important to my students' grades. Are you saying that you will take on Lisa's education?"**_

"_**From her transcripts I think she will make a fine addition to our student body. Because this semester has entered its final quarter I would not recommend her starting this term but instead waiting until the start of the spring Semester. She is welcome to audit some classes providing you can purchase all of her uniforms."**_

"_**Starting next semester though what will that do about my graduation date?"**_

"_**Looking at your credits I think you might be able to manage to graduate with the rest of this year's juniors providing that she takes a couple of supplementary classes over the summer."**_

"_**I can't do Summer school!"**_

"_**Of course you can Lisa, it will be good for you to get that extra practice in seeing as you are missing all of this semester."**_

I couldn't stand to hear any more of that so I stood up and walked out of the office. Linda and George had already made up their minds on what I was going to do for school. I groaned as I felt eyes staring at me from all directions. I laughed inside because it struck me as funny that they probably didn't know whether they should report me for being out of uniform of just ignore me because I wasn't one of their look alike posse friends.

Finally a few minutes later Linda and George came out with several packets of information which once we got to the car I learned was everything I needed to purchase before I could become a student at this school that they so badly wanted me at.

Late that night after Linda and George had gone to bed I went to the garage and turned KnIFE on.

"_**Did Charles Graiman give you a way to contact him?"**_

"_**Why do you want to get in contact with Charles Graiman**__**,**__** Lisa?"**_

"_**I need to rant something out with him."**_

"_**I do not understand."**_

"_**Can I just have his **__**number**__** KnIFE?"**_

"_**Your cell phone is dialling him now."**_

I glanced down at my cell phone and smiled before climbing out of KnIFE and listening to the phone ring. It took a little while for the phone to answer but soon Charles answered without it going to his voicemail.

"_**Is there a reason why I have to go to a Catholic school?"**_

"_**Lisa, what are you calling me at this hour for?"**_

"_**Answer my question please? KnIFE was nice enough to dial my cell phone for me. Why can't I just go to Lisa's school and get my education over with?"**_

"_**I put in the recommendation that you change schools. You know your cover would only hold up for so long around tons of kids who know you inside and out. It was only by chance that Lisa's parents didn't really know her well enough to notice too much of the difference. It is better for you to be at another school."**_

"_**Ok, I can see that but why a Catholic school? I was raised protestant and I would still like to hold onto those beliefs."**_

"_**I am sure it is a good school and it will allow you the chance to not stick out. Uniforms do wonders for making people look the same. Just avoid being the front line and you will blend in perfectly. Your future as KnIFE's driver will be secured."**_

"_**Fine, whatever, but do you think you can get me out of summer school?"**_

"_**No, do what you must to keep Lisa's parents' happy**__**,**__** Lisa."**_

The phone went dead after that and I just stared at the phone. Charles Graiman had hung up on me I couldn't wait till I could leave this house for good. I didn't even want to like Charles Graiman right then.

"_**Lisa?"**_

I spun around to see Linda standing there in front of the garage door.

"_**Hi Mom!"**_

"_**What are you doing out here at eleven at night?"**_

"_**Oh I just wanted to make a phone call to someone and I didn't want to wake you."**_

"_**You were making a phone call at eleven at night?"**_

"_**Yeah, what does it matter to you?"**_

"_**Lisa! It matters more **__**than **__**you know."**_

"_**Fine**__**,**__** if you need to know it is someone who got me out of the camp! They wanted to know how I was doing and said they wanted to keep in touch."**_

"_**And you are calling them at eleven at night?"**_

"_**They are currently in Hawaii and they left a message to call them at this time, if I was able to."**_

"_**Well all right, but I don't want to hear of any more of this funny business."**_

"_**Don't worry**__**,**__** Mom."**_

After Linda went back into the house I rolled my eyes and leaned against KnIFE. I was so thankful that KnIFE had stayed silent during that argument. I still didn't know what would trigger him to talk. I knew he was a very advanced computer but I didn't know a ton about how he had been programmed.

"_**Lisa**__**,**__** why did you lie to your mother?"**_

"_**One**__**,**__** I need to lie to them**__**, **__**KnIFE**__**,**__** and two**__**,**__** she is not my mother. I am just pretending to be their daughter. I thought you had been filled in on all this."**_

"_**I was but it still doesn't make my logic any easier."**_

"_**What is any more logical than pretending to be someone you aren't?"**_

"_**You might be right there."**_

"_**I am going to bed now**__**, **__**KnIFE**__**,**__** why don't you go into hibernation mode and I will see you tomorrow."**_

I barely even knew when KnIFE shut down but I went back to my room and collapsed on the bed with a sigh. Before I went to bed though I went into my bathroom and switched out my contact lenses. I had been trying not to look at my real eye color but that night I was homesick so I stared into the mirror missing the girl that I used to be. I reached out and touched the mirror but then I quickly slipped the lenses back into my eyes.

I smiled deviously, there was nothing saying that I couldn't go and attend my Father's church. He didn't know who I was and wouldn't be able to recognize me. There was one problem though; on Sundays Linda worked and George was around grading papers. There is no way he would let me sneak out of the house, especially where I still hadn't driven KnIFE since he had been switched in as my car.


	10. The first day of school

I leaned back in my desk and peaked out to the parking lot where I discovered I could see KnIFE. I thought that maybe if I could keep getting that parking spot math class might not be so bad. Of course with my luck Graiman would have put in a safety to keep the car from helping me to cheat in my classes.

"**Miss Scott****,**** are you listening to me?"**

I stared straight ahead and thought, scratch that even if I had an armored tank out in the parking lot nothing would make this class better what with the witch they had teaching the class. Did Catholics even allow witches?

"**Yes m****a****'am, sorry I was just a little distracted."**

"**Well****,**** see that it doesn't happen again. I don't allow distractions from any of my students."**

I was about to announce to her that it was my first day but I was pretty sure that everyone in the class was aware that I was fresh meat. I was also ordered to not do anything stupid that might make me stick out. I also couldn't join any sports teams that might get me noticed. Lisa Scott had to stay in the background.

I was completely alone here at this school or anywhere else. Allison had refused to talk to me or invite me to any of her social gatherings. I had become a complete social outcast with my enrolment at this school.

I must have done a good job making the teacher think I was paying attention because she didn't call me out in front of the rest of the class during the rest of the period. When the bell rang I adjusted my skirt as I stood up and walked to my next class.

I sighed as I reached for my schedule and realized that I had lunch after this class and then three more classes before I could go home and that didn't even count the karate class that I had signed up for. KnIFE had insisted that I train myself in martial arts.

Linda and George had had issues when they learned of my plans to take these classes. Linda wanted me to go out for cheerleading and George had suggested track and field. I couldn't tell them but the old Lisa might have been interested in those sports but not only was I not but a certain don't bring attention to myself rule came into play.

As I walked up the hallway to my English class someone stopped me by grabbing my arm. I spun around to see who wanted my attention.

"**You are the new girl****,**** right?"**

"**Yeah****,**** last time I checked. I didn't see anyone else in the new student orientation this morning."**

"**You're funny. Just don't sit in my seat in class again."**

"**I checked that seat over and it didn't have anyone's name written on it. And last time I checked this was a new semester so all the classes are starting over again. I can sit wherever I please."**

"**Do you want to know how fast I can make you the biggest social outcast of not only the junior class but the entire school?"**

"**You can try if you want; being a social outcast doesn't scare me in the least."**

I turned and walked away even though I could feel the girl's eyes boring into my back. I wondered if keeping a fight going would go against Graiman's wishes for my life. I was getting better at this whole thing but I still could not help but feel like sometimes I was a puppet on strings. I had to pretend to be Lisa Scott however; I had to protect myself at the same time so that I didn't gather too much attention so that I could be like a ghost when I turned eighteen.

After all my classes, I rushed out to the parking lot and threw my bag in the back seat of KnIFE. Sitting in the front seat, I slid down low in the seat and realized that while I had been in school I had left KnIFE on.

"**No one noticed you did they?"**

"**No****,**** Lisa they did not, the only time you should have to worry about making sure you put me in hibernation mode is when you are at home ****or ****you know someone else is going to be getting inside of me."**

KnIFE answered me flatly and I realized just how little time I had actually spent talking to the car. It seemed weird to me the fact that my car could talk back to me. Nevertheless, the fact was that I was embracing this as reality. Charles Graiman had told me that KnIFE had a lot of potential to grow and could become my best friend.

"**Well****,**** it's not like you can expose all your inner secrets to me or anyone else."**

"**That is true****;**** I am locked in this form until you turn eighteen. The only thing you can do with me is turn me off and on. I am not even allowed to let you put me in auto pilot unless you are not physically capable of driving."**

"**So****,**** other than the whole you being indestructible and the fact that you talk to me routine you're not that much different than a normal car."**

"**I could take offence to that if I had feelings but as I don't and the fact that your statement is mostly true I will dismiss it."**

"**Alright****,**** thanks for that. Now what do you say if I be the perfect first day student and get to my Karate class on time?"**

I reached for the keys and was about to put them into the ignition when KnIFE started up itself.

"**If you don't mind I would like to keep one thing straight****;**** if no one is watching please don't use the key. The key is just one more ****thing**** that makes me seem like a dumb ordinary car."**

"**Oh trust me if anyone could hear you right now they would know you are not a dumb run-of-the-mill car."**

I shook my head and shifted into reverse. For never having received an official driver's license and only haven driven around a ranch I realized I was a decent driver. Charles had taught me a lot in a short amount of time. I could operate KnIFE and even drive as if I had really taken driver's Ed. Although it probably didn't help that before I had even been allowed to drive my car, Linda and George had made me read and reread the state drivers' manual.

Pulling into the Karate studio, I walked up to the door and went in leaving KnIFE locked in the first parking spot available. After signing in, I took the Gi that I had paid for and in the changing room before going to take my place among the other beginners I changed into it. I had to smile because I wasn't the oldest in the room. I also found that I knew many of the moves without even being aware. I tried to think of where I had learned Karate; it wasn't from TV because before I became Lisa I hadn't had regular access to one. Then I remembered one Cowboy out on the trails who had taught me different things when my Dad hadn't been watching. He had taught me to punch and kick but other than that he hadn't told me what he was teaching me.

"**Hold up!"**

I turned to face the person only to find that it was my sensei.

"**Yes****,**** Sensei?"**

"**I was very surprised with your knowledge. I don't often recommend people to move up after their first class but I have an opening in my Tuesday/Thursday class. If you have time right now I would like to administer the belt test and have you start tomorrow in my intermediate class."**

"**I have paid for three classes a week though?"**

"**The Tuesday Thursday class also meets on Saturdays. Only it meets at one in the afternoon."**

"**Alright, I think that fits with my schedule. However, I can't stay right now. I have to get home to start dinner."**

"**Well then****,**** if you can come tomorrow for three fifteen. The class doesn't start until three thirty."**

I nodded and said I would try before slipping into the changing room. Once I was changed, I ran out to KnIFE and drove off.


	11. 18th Birthday

I rolled over in bed with a groan trying to figure out what had just woken me up. My eyes snapped open to see my cell phone ringing. I was utterly confused as to why someone was calling my cell phone and at three in the morning to top it off. I flipped the phone open to answer it not able to decipher the name that was displayed.

"**Hello?"**

"**Lisa it was your wish that I notify you the second you turned eighteen."**

"**When was this? And why in the world would you call m****y**** cell?"**

I asked still very confused over the flat voice talking on my cell phone but then I realized and I snapped to,

"**KnIFE****,**** why in the world are you calling me when I am supposed to be sleeping?"**

"**You asked to be notified the second you turned eighteen."**

"**KnIFE it is three in the morning, I don't really care."**

"**It is exactly three-oh-eight and thirty three seconds, you turned eighteen at three-oh-four and forty-five seconds."**

"**What part of ****'****I don't care****'**** did you not understand?"**

"**The part where you ordered me to tell you the second you turned eighteen? I believe the original statement was that you wanted to know exactly when you were free from the Scott household or else you were going to rip out the child lock Charles Graiman installed in my software."**

"**KnIFE****,**** that was over a year ago and I had had a bad day at school. I thought seriously that by now you understood my anger."**

I was sorely tempted to hang up on my stupid overly intelligent car but something kept me awake to hear the rest of the message.

"**Well even if you are totally not interested in leaving this life right now, I think you should come down and hear this message I just found in my databanks. It is addressed to you and I cannot play it unless you are here to authenticate the message."**

"**Can't it wait till I have to leave for school? I can go over it while you drive me to school."**

"**I do not think that would be wise as I have numerous red flags of urgency. It says to open it the first chance you get. Waiting till morning could be too late."**

"**I will be down in a minute, let me get my slippers on and make sure Linda and George are still fast asleep."**

I slipped out of bed and stuck my feet into my slippers. It had been a while since I had replaced a lot of Lisa's stuff with my stuff. I had been living here for a year and a half. I had become almost comfortable living as Lisa Scott. Frankly other than having a talking car I had forgotten that I was even supposed to be someone else. There were even days that I didn't think about N.

I stepped into the master bathroom and peaked into the room to see the two of them asleep in their bed so I quickly slipped back to the stairs where I went to the garage. Sitting in the front seat, I leaned back and scanned the console. I was seeing some things that I had not seen since the last day at Graiman's house.

"**Ok KnIFE****,**** what is this message that you needed me to see?"**

"**I have it all set up, you just need to authenticate by using the handprint scanner."**

"**You are sure this isn't a virus?"**

"**It is very unlikely, it has the official F.L.A.G logo as well as the official Knight Industries logo attached to the message."**

I reached into the center console and lifted the fake insert so that I could place my hand on the scanner. As soon as I pulled my hand away, I noticed the windshield light up and become almost like a computer screen. Charles Graiman appeared on the screen.

"**This message has been activated after your eighteenth birthday****. I****f I have sent you a video file explaining that something has happened to either me or F.L.A.G as a whole****,**** I have chosen to keep this from you until then because if it was much more of a radical situation I would have over rid the safety protocols I left with KnIFE in order to keep you safe."**

The message blanked out for a minute before switching over to another background setting. A frazzled and much less calm Charles Graiman came into focus.

"**Today is January 29****,**** 2009; I am saddened to say that there is less than a two percent chance that I will survive the next five minutes. There was an accident and the plane I am on is on a collision course. I have decided that I am not going to abandon this plane. I didn't want to worry you so I am going to send this so that you will get ****it ****once you turn eighteen. I am leaving F.L.A.G and Knight Industries in the capable hands of my daughter Sarah and the team I have put together. You are the last person I will send a message to. I leave you with the code word Phoenix. KnIFE is programmed to find out where Sarah is and she knows the importance of the Phoenix within F.L.A.G. I need to sign out now. Have a good life****,**** Lisa."**

The screen powered down and for a few minutes, I just sat there and stared at KnIFE.

"**Charles Graiman is dead?"**

"**It appears so****,**** Lisa. It is up to you. I know you wanted to leave this life as soon as possible. Does this new information change your mind?"**

"**I have no idea on whether there is anything for us to run to. He said that Sarah was in charge but would she actually keep something that seems so risky going?"**

"**I do not know****,**** Lisa."**

"**Can you do some research and in the meantime I will just keep up with my daily life as Lisa Scott?"**

"**Charles Graiman was hoping that you would say that. He programmed me to try to persuade you to see this out until you graduated high school."**

"**I have only a few weeks of school left and then I am graduating and then we can work out where to go from there. I am going back to bed before someone comes snooping down here. George gets up randomly throughout the night. All I need is for him to come down here and accuse me of running away."**

I turned off the console but decided not to tell KnIFE to hibernate so that he could continue researching our existing options. I however, just to spite the car, took the key and locked the door.

"**Stay silent if anyone comes out here. You know the drill."**

I left the garage and went back to my room. Just as I walked in through the door of my room, I saw a shadow walk down the hall. George had just gotten up to check the house. I threw myself against the wall. I really didn't want him to see my shadow. When he passed my door, I tiptoed to my bed and slid under the covers with my slippers on.


	12. Meet Mike Knight

I threw the last duffle bag into the back of KnIFE. Linda and George were not happy in the least that it was the day after graduation and I was leaving on a road trip. They seemed to think they could keep me around for the rest of my life. I wasn't about to let on that I would not be returning from this road trip but instead told them I would be back in time to start college in the fall. George had gotten me a good scholarship at DeVry.

I hugged each one of them and jumped into KnIFE's driver seat. I made it look like I was putting the key in the ignition but instead folded it back into my hand and KnIFE started his engine on his own. Sticking the key under my leg, I waved at them and blew kisses. I tried to act normal for them however; I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. I was finally on my own.

Once we were outside the town limits, I had KnIFE find a back road and for the first time in a year and a half, I had him change form. At first, I had a hard time thinking of an image but then I remembered the car that Dr. Graiman had been building.

"**KnIFE****,**** can you change into a Blue Mustang****,**** please?"**

KnIFE didn't acknowledge me but I watched as the hood changed shape and color. Once the transformation was complete, I reached into the control box and flipped the switch to transform the dashboard into the specialized version.

"**Alright KnIFE****,**** from here on out it is just the two of us. We must find Sarah Graiman and the rest of Knight Industries."**

"**I am currently searching every frequency to find any traces. I have found out that Sarah Graiman and Knight Industries are still in existence but I am unsure as to whether they are still on the side of justice that Charles Graiman stood for."**

"**Well****,**** until we can establish this if you detect any of them can you put yourself in a stealth mode or something? I don't want to be detected until I know we can trust them."**

"**Communication silence mode activated."**

I leaned back in my seat and sighed. I just needed a moment to gather myself before the two of us went on. We were on our own and I actually felt a bit scared. I couldn't explain it but somehow I had actually taken to liking my cover as Lisa Scott. I had been safe and no one could hurt me. I now had to use KnIFE to find Sarah Graiman and then work towards taking down N.

Part of me hoped he was already dead but the other part wanted him to be alive so I could torture him as a ghost tortures those that hurt it. But then again I hated to think that he had been loose that whole time using and hurting other innocent young girls as he had me. I raged inside at the thought because they didn't have the person looking out for them the way I had. I gripped the steering wheel tight and told KnIFE to punch it.

"**What is wrong****,**** Lisa?"**

"**I want to get my mission underway. I need to get rid of N so he can't hurt anyone else."**

"**You still hold that much anger over N? Did you ever learn his name?"**

"**There was no name to learn KnIFE****,**** he only goes by N in his crime circles and I was just a tool of his so I was not privy to his real name. He is worse than a sensor ghost is. Can you do a search to see if there is anything pertaining to N?"**

"**I am searching any and all key words found in the file Charles Graiman compiled on this "N"."**

"**Alright then let's get on with our physical search for F.L.A.G."**

I made it clear that I wanted to drive so I slammed on the accelerator and took control back from KnIFE. I loved the feeling of KnIFE bouncing over the ruts of the dirt road and thrilled at how much more power it seemed to give me once we got back on the main road.

"**Lisa****,**** you might want to take care, we are still at the mercy of the police. Do not be too reckless we do not have the protection of F.L.A.G to bail you out of jail if you get caught for excessive speeding."**

"**Don't worry KnIFE; I won't let anything happen to you. You know that****,**** right?"**

"**I do not know anything when it comes to you. You have been on the short leash that was Lisa Scott; you are now loose cannon in terms of what you will do."**

"**I made a promise to Charles Graiman, maybe at one time I thought of undermining him but now that he is dead I am going to see his dream for my life out. My primary goal is to take down "N". But I am going to use this second chance that I received to make every day better than the next."**

We drove on in relative silence. I asked a few times if KnIFE had found any current dirt on N but there was nothing to be found. I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing but I knew something, it wasn't going to be easy to find him.

At some point, the time that we had been traveling blurred together and I had no idea how long or how far we had travelled but I was about ready to relinquish control back to KnIFE. The only thing that changed my mind was KnIFE breaking our silence.

"**I just encountered a transmission on a secure frequency that is one that Charles Graiman used quite a bit."**

"**Can you intercept it?"**

"**Not without revealing that I am listening in and that would surely give away our location. Would you like to check out the situation? You might be able to get the answers you want."**

"**KnIFE****,**** take me to the location."**

I relinquished the control I had over the steering wheel and leaned back in my seat.

"**KnIFE,****what do you think we are going to find?"**

"**We will most likely find a member of F.L.A.G if not****,**** a driver and another car."**

"**How many cars do you think Charles had when he died?"**

"**When you left the house to start your life as Lisa Scott there were three. There was the Knight Industries Two Thousand and the Knight Industries Three Thousand, which was still under construction and then there was my body, The Knight Industries Field Experiment."**

When we arrived on an overpass near the spot the transmission had originated I looked around and noticed what looked like some form of standoff.

"**Lisa, there on the left is a car with the license plate of KNIGHT. That is the car we are looking for, it is the Knight Industries Three Thousand. I was the body model of that car."**

"**Can you get me closer?"**

"**If I get too close and that is the Three Thousand, it will detect my presence even if I am running on silent."**

"**Is there any way I can get closer then? I need to get inside and find out what they know."**

"**I can give you a fake identity but don't get caught. There will be nothing to back it up."**

"**Don't worry KnIFE****,**** I won't get caught. I just want to find out what is out there."**

KnIFE spit out a drawer and I picked up the two cards that lay in front of me. I looked at them for a minute studying the information on the two of them.

"**I am Charlotte West and I am a Private Eye?"**

"**Yes I have even upped your age. To make it a little more believable you are twenty-one."**

"**Ok, I think I can do that."**

I grinned and I looked in the rear-view mirror but as I did, I thought of something.

"**KnIFE****,**** can you find a deserted ally or something? I need to change to look the part. I don't think anyone would be able to believe that I am a Private Eye dressed as I am."**

KnIFE found a private ally and I jumped out of the car and found in the trunk a bag that had a couple of my nicer outfits. I found a pair of casual dress pants, a blouse and a jacket. I then climbed into the back seat and changed into the outfit. For a final touch, I pinned my hair up in a simple but professional looking ponytail.

"**There is one last touch you need to go out there, Lisa."**

"**I think I look pretty good though?"**

I inspected myself and slipped off my sneakers that I had absentmindedly slipped on and grabbed a pair of dress flats.

"**No****,**** there is one other thing that you need to complete your cover."**

KnIFE spit out another drawer and my hand hovered over the item inside.

"**KnIFE I can't take that, I am too afraid."**

"**Lisa you need it, I will not be able to provide you any immediate back up."**

"**KnIFE you don't understand the last time I saw a gun I had my face shot off. I can't take it and suddenly I am feeling very uncomfortable about the fact that you have had a gun in your glove compartment for the last two years."**

"**Lisa you did not shoot your face off, ****am ****I correct? You were defenceless then and I will not let my driver go into a dangerous situation without protection."**

I took the gun and after checking the lock and I slipped it into my waistband underneath my jacket where it was concealed but easily accessible.

"**I don't know what kind of a shot I will be; I have only ever shot coyotes when I was much younger."**

I started to stand up but just as I was about to leave, KnIFE spit out another drawer.

"**An ear wig would be a dead giveaway. We can have short conversations through your cell phone via this."**

I took the Bluetooth and stuck it to my ear after making sure my phone picked up the signal. Nodding I told KnIFE to stay out of sight but to keep track of my movements.

I ran down the street until I reached the edge of the block where the standoff was. It was then that I pulled my gun and circled around until I was behind the car KnIFE identified as friendly.

"**Do you need any assistance?"**

I crouched down next to the man I found and pointed it in the direction that he was focusing.

"**Who are you and where did you come from?"**

"**I am Charlotte West, I am a Private Eye, and my office is down the road apiece. I was out for coffee and saw something going on down here. Thought I could be of some help here. It is better than shuffling papers all day."**

"**How do you know I am the one that needs help?"**

"**I learned from my Father, I have a good sense about who to trust. That person he looks good but he just looks too perfect. Plus his position is screaming that he has just attempted to pull off a heist of some sort."**

"**You are good, you can read things pretty good, and now how is your shot?"**

"**This is nothing; do you want me to take him out for you? I can pick a coyote off from the top of a ridge."**

"**A coyote?"**

"**My Uncle was a rancher and he taught me how to handle different fire arms."**

For a few seconds I searched his eyes and I know he searched mine but I must have lied effectively because he dismissed me and I took aim at the opponent.

"**You know it doesn't help that you were the cutest and that you had the nicest car. You must take care of it."**

"**You must be good because I can't tell if that was sincere or a very bad attempt at a pick up line."**

"**Trust me that isn't even the bottom of the barrel. So what did that guy do?"**

"**He attempted to steal some highly classified information. It is thought that he might have some on him. I have been hired to take him out before he can sell it."**

"**Hired hmm? So you are a Mercenary?"**

"**No I am not a Mercenary, but I guess I am kind of like that. I work for the Foundation for Law and Government,"**

"**Never heard of them****,**** are they a government agency?"**

"**No privately funded, we can go places that the government can't go."**

"**Sounds exciting, do you have any spare applications?"**

"**Not on me. Do people really call you Charlotte?"**

"**No! Most of my friends call me Charlie."**

I kept an eye on the person next to me when I realized that while he knew my name and occupation I didn't know who he was.

"**You never told me your name."**

"**You can call me Mike, Mike Knight."**

"**Well nice to meet you****,**** Mike."**

I ducked down as I heard a click come from the opposite side of the street.

"**Do you have any backup coming or do you want me to take him out for you? I have a clear shot."**

"**Let me take him, I don't want to drag you in on any unnecessary paperwork. However, I thank you for the offer. I would gladly take your back up again."**

"**Well if you are ever in my neighborhood again I will gladly give you the time of day or night. Look me up alright?"**

I moved aside as he took my position and took his shot. While he was distracted, I backed off and disappeared around a corner. I snuck back to KnIFE, which I climbed into the driver's seat and sighed.

"**Unless he is a lot harder to read then I think he is truthful and F.L.A.G is still on the side of justice."**

"**If that earlier message I intercepted earlier was to Sarah Graiman or to F.L.A.G as it seems it was. I was able to back trace that communication to a generalized location. The location fits with the encrypted secret location in my databanks as the secret location of Charles Graiman's secret lab."**

"**He had a secret Lab? I thought he did his work in his garage."**

"**He was having it built to house his operation so that it would be out of public eye."**

"**Alright so we go there and spy out the location and make sure your data isn't mistaken or the fact that the signal just bounced from there. If it is the location Mike should head back there shortly? We just need to be there first."**

I set down my gun in the glove compartment along with my fake identity before resting my head and giving myself some shuteye. I had left the house at eight in the morning and realized it was now close to six. I had not stopped to eat anything but somehow I hadn't noticed. I must have been on an adrenaline trip.

"**KnIFE****,**** before we go anywhere we need to get something for me to eat. How are you doing on Gas?"**

Knife brought up a display on the screen.

"**I have sufficient gas to get me through the rest of this week. It will be good to get to Sarah Graiman; I know she should have some of the specialized fuel. Do you have any preference as to where you eat?"**

"**Just take me to someplace that has a drive ****thru****. When we get there let me take over and hide your special features."**

I was not stable enough to drive just then but I knew at a drive thru I would have to drive but it still beat going into a restaurant, which would take time out of our journey. Pulling into a parking lot, I pulled out my wallet and sent KnIFE into hibernation mode, which transformed the dashboard back to a standard one.


	13. First Impressions

After getting my food I woke KnIFE back up and let him drive while I ate my food. This was the first time I had eaten anything substantial while sitting inside of him. I almost didn't want to do it again but I knew I probably would end up doing so. KnIFE was very anal about me dropping any crumbs over his interior. It was worse than my father making sure I had picked up every crumb so that we didn't have animals climbing around our campsites when I was younger.

We got to a location with a vantage point over the area that the message had been sent to. I told KnIFE to keep an eye out and then I let myself fall asleep. I don't know how long I was asleep for but I was awoken to KnIFE starting his engine.

"**Lisa****,**** I have found the entrance to the hideout. The other car just entered through it. Do you want to go now while they are expecting someone or wait until they have relaxed?"**

"**Ehh, Lets go now. I want to make an entrance."**

KnIFE took off before I could take the steering wheel.

"**Hey do you think you could have given me some warning? I might have liked to drive just then?"**

"**I watched the other ****car's**** movements going into the opening****.**** I****t**** seems that it would be better suited for me to drive because the timing seems to be precise."**

I leaned back and watched as we ran through a closing barricade that was a hanger bay door. I didn't expect to see a wall towards the back of the hanger bay start to open though and I started to grit my teeth as KnIFE ran right through the wall and down a ramp.

"**How far underground is this place again?"**

"**We are currently at about five stories underground. The tunnel still has a ways to drop."**

As he said that the tunnel levelled off and KnIFE stopped. Surprisingly a computer scanned us and let us through. Even if the rest of F.L.A.G didn't know we existed the computers did.

Again the tunnel dropped off and KnIFE went rolling down until we got to another level. I heard a voice tell me that decontamination was complete. I then saw a set of doors ahead that we were moving towards but they hadn't opened yet.

Just as I feared we were going to crash the doors, they opened up and I heard KnIFE make a sound that almost seemed to mock me.

"**Did you really think I would let us crash?"**

"**I don't know what to think anymore."**

"**I have told you before I am programmed to protect the life of my driver as well as any other living being that I may encounter that has sentience."**

"**Well that doesn't make me feel any better!"**

I looked up to see that KnIFE was driving me into a ring that was lined up with the doors. There was the black mustang from earlier or rather it was probably yesterday by now. Standing in the room before me were four very confused and irate people. I recognized Mike standing there with a gun aimed right beside the car. He was anticipating me getting out of the car and shooting back at them.

"**KnIFE this doesn't look good. If they try to separate us I will immediately order you to shut down is that clear?"**

"**That would be the wise solution; I was only programmed to respond to two handprints, yours and Charles Graiman. Charles Graiman is dead so that would leave you as the only one who can reactivate me."**

"**So basically they need me alive in order to operate you."**

I grinned as I picked up the gun and put it in my hand.

"**Taking a gun out there would not be the most logical situation available. They are armed and aiming at your door."**

"**I have a plan, and anyways I just recalculated his aim and I would have time to duck before he realized but he is estimating that I will be taller than I am. You can double check if you want."**

I pulled on the lever and opened the door but before I stood up, dropped the gun under the door, and pushed it towards them. I was hoping they would take the move as a friendly one, showing that I didn't want to hurt them. At least that is what they always did in the movies. I didn't have much outside my training as to real life examples in this business.

I stood up with my arms raised not really feeling very confident because the gun was now pointed right at my head.

"**Please don't shoot!"**

Oh now that sounded pathetic coming from my lips. I definitely had watched too many movies. I stepped back and shut KnIFE's door.

"**I was sent by a friend, I come in peace."**

"**How did you get in without tripping any of our alarms?"**

I looked at who had said that and locked my eyes on the pretty white girl standing next to Mike. She had to be Sarah Graiman; unless Charles daughter was adopted from an eastern country I doubted she was the shorter Asian girl.

"**My car is called KnIFE, Knight Industries Field Experiment. It was designed by Charles Graiman in the early days of this reboot project. Before you even had this base, he saved my life and told me that when I finished school I was to bring KnIFE to you. He didn't want the FBI to get their hands on it."**

"**How do we know you're not lying?"**

I looked at the shorter guy next to Mike and stared for a few minutes.

"**I am not lying and I can show it to you. KnIFE****,**** can you change into a black Mustang please."**

I watched out of the corner of my eye as KnIFE's shape moved around to take on the identical look of the other car.

"**Do I know you from somewhere?"**

I looked at Mike with a smile on my face and cocked my head to the side.

"**Well I certainly am not a Charlotte or a Charlie so I don't know; do you know me from somewhere?"**

"**Am I missing something here?"**

I looked at the Asian girl that I didn't think was Sarah completely intrigued as to what would be said next.

"**Yesterday afternoon while KITT was down during that standoff I had a girl claiming to be Charlotte West gave me some assistance until I could get a clear shot at the person's head. He was quite cocky even though he had just stolen some top grade military jamming software and was using it on KITT."**

"**AH Man! KITT you can't go down again, we miss the good stuff when you go off line."**

"**Don't worry Billy; if I had been online I would have been able to see through this child's lie. Charlotte West may be a private eye in the vicinity of the standoff however she is a fifty year old black woman."**

"**I never said my cover was a good one, I just said the name on my ID badge!"**

I laughed, smiled, and tried to use my charm on them.

"**So can you like drop that gun and just welcome me to the fold? I did tell you where I was from****,**** didn't I?"**

Mike and the Asian girl came forward, took me by the arms, and dragged me across the room.

"**Ok****,**** I really don't think this is how you treat welcome guests! KnIFE****,**** shut down!"**

I heard Knife power down. It was the eeriest thing to hear it from the outside because all of a sudden all his controls switched off and he became a manual drive vehicle. I knew that was going to happen but I just hadn't prepared myself for the sound of everything clicking and changing as it happened. Once it was done, I let them take me willingly. I knew that now they would need me and that they would have to accept me. They couldn't just get to throw me out on the street and keep my car. KnIFE was worthless to them unless they let me go and trusted me. I tried to remember the word that Charles Graiman had told me was a code word to gain their trust but I was drawing a blank.

I was taken to a room where they left me behind a locked door. I sighed as I looked around; at least there was a bed attached to the wall and it looked comfortable unlike usual prison cells. They must like me enough to give me a decent room.

Guiltily I fell asleep and dreamed that I was back in "N's" circle. I dreamed that I was still stealing cars for him. Was that what my life would have been like if Charles Graiman hadn't intervened? Was that all I had to look forward to if they took KnIFE away from me. (?) I had guarantee that they would need me to reactivate KnIFE but nothing told me that they would have to keep me. Would I just wear out my purpose as I had the day they found out that I had tipped the cops off about N?


	14. Explanations

I woke in the morning to the door to the room/cell opening with the Asian girl and the white girl standing there. I rolled off the bed and crossed my arms.

"**How did you do it? All the parts indicate that that car is indeed a genuine Knight Industries car however; we can't even find the hand scanner to restart it."**

"**Oh gee, maybe I don't know either. Maybe I screwed us all over and now KnIFE isn't worth anything to any of us."**

"**Somehow I don't think even you are that naïve. You may be a young child but I really think you know what you are doing."**

"**Oh wow maybe what they say about Asians being smart is true after all!"**

I smiled and uncrossed my arms.

"**I will show you what I know only after you hear me out and promise not to throw me out in the gutter or I promise I will go to my biggest enemy and tell them everything I know about F.L.A.G and tell him where he can get some of the most high tech and expensive cars."**

"**You know if we wanted to hurt you that would have just signed your death warrant."**

"**Does it look like I care? The only thing I have to live for is KnIFE and the mission I have been given."**

"**Ok, tell us your story but start with your name and make sure you don't lie to us."**

"**I will tell you my name as long as I don't have to call you Asian girl and White girl."**

I sassed at them and was proud at what I had learned from going to an all-girls school.

"**You really are pushing it, you know that?"**

"**I know, but that is just how I am. I don't do anything half way. And you wouldn't either if you had to do what I have done, just to stay alive."**

"**Sarah Graiman and this is Zoe."**

"**So I was right even though you don't look much like your father. My name is Lisa but that isn't my original name and I couldn't even begin to give you a last name, I am at a sort of crossroads and depending on which path I take my last name will follow that choice."**

"**I was born Leanne Smith a simple country girl to a rancher up north. I was a cowboy preacher's daughter and I grew up on the trails ministering to anyone who would listen. Just before my sixteenth birthday my father took a new Church in L.A. He was afraid I was too naïve because I had never been around civilized people. When we got ****t****here I met a boy whom I only know of as "N". He got me on the wrong path and I started stealing cars and other pricey items for him. My Dad somehow knew of Charles Graiman and knew of the wrong I was doing. Charles Graiman intervened in my life and convinced me I was doing wrong. I turned on the person I thought was my boyfriend and agreed to show the police where "N" hid out. The cops were too late. "N" had an informant who told him that my ride had been a cop. "N" shot me in the face and left me for dead. He killed the cop and made sure no one ever saw any of the recorded information from the car. When the cop didn't check back in Charles Graiman came out to the last known location to find a destroyed car, a very empty warehouse and me all but dead."**

I stopped and backed off. Remembering all that was all I could do and I fell to my knees crying. I had not been forced to recall my painful past in the last two years and it hurt me more than I could ever describe.

"**That is a pretty story but if it was really Charles Graiman who helped you, he would have left you with more than a car which for all we know your KnIFE could have been stolen from some old warehouse that had some failed incomplete projects."**

"**Zoe, I am not lying. This all really happened and he did leave me a password. He didn't give it to me until after he had died because the original plan was that ****h****e was going to come and get me and KnIFE when I turned eighteen. But I believe the word in the message was something like Phoenix."**

Sarah immediately relaxed and nodded,

"**Just like my Father to leave you with an old symbol of F.L.A.G!"**

I watched as Sarah shook her head.

"**I have one question for you Lisa, you said you were shot in the face but you don't look like someone who has been. I mean if you were to study enough about F.L.A.G I am sure you would know the significance of the Phoenix as a symbol of rebirth."**

"**It is significant to me as well. Charles Graiman used Foundation money to have my face completely reconstructed and modelled after that of a girl who died the same exact day as Leanne supposedly died. Charles Graiman gave me KnIFE and sent the two of us into hiding in the place of the real Lisa. Her parents were too naïve to even notice that I wasn't their daughter."**

I stood up and looked them in the eyes as I wiped my eyes and then absent-mindedly remembered that my contacts were still in place. I had just grown so used to just taking them out and putting them back in that I had never thought to take them out just to take them out. Therefore, I removed them from my eyes and blinked for a few seconds as my eyes adjusted to not having the lens over my eyes.

"**This is the real me. I guess you could say. I don't think I need those contacts anymore, not if you will have me?"**

"**If you promise to show us how this other car works."**

I looked at Zoe and pouted for a minute before I shook my head and pushed through the two of them.

"**Show me where to go; it was kind of hard to remember all the turns when you were dragging me around."**

I thought I heard Zoe whisper to Sarah something about me being arrogant and not worth the time of day. So I turned around and looked at them.

"**If you want me to reactivate KnIFE****,**** then you might want to show me the way?"**

Zoe walked ahead of me but I could tell by her body language that she didn't want to show me anywhere except out of her life. I followed her down utilitarian corridors that all seemed the same until we came to the large chamber that I had driven into. Once there I passed Zoe as I rushed to KnIFE who was still in front of the doors.

"**What is she doing here?"**

"**Sarah let her out. Sarah believes her story; and apparently was familiar with the password she used. I really think anyone could have used it and been believable but Sarah is such a sap for the old stories of the original F.L.A.G."**

"**Are you just going to stand there and chatter all day or do you want to know what I know about KnIFE?"**

I was not at all in with the whole being patient thing and I was not about to let them talk trash about me when they didn't even know me. I might have been unwelcome but that was poor planning on Dr. Graiman's part what with dying and all.

I sat down in the driver's seat and watched as Zoe slid into the passenger seat. The shorter guy slid into the back seat and watched what I was about to do.

"**I can't believe you wouldn't think something like this would be hidden from ordinary sight. KnIFE was designed to resemble an ordinary car from the inside unless I, the driver, tripped the mission switch."**

I opened the center console and lifted the insert. Inside I dropped my hand down to the hand scanner at the bottom. I placed my hand on the screen and felt KnIFE start to vibrate and come back to life.

"**There****,**** I have activated KnIFE."**

"**Lisa?"**

I looked up to see Sarah standing there with a concerned look on her face.

"**Could you please come to my office****,**** please?"**

I followed her up the stairs and into a room off the balcony.

"**Lisa, I believe your story with the exception of a few things. Why didn't my father tell me about you? He told me everything else pertaining to this company in a message after his death but last night was legitimately the first time I had heard of you or KnIFE."**

"**I don't know why. All I know is he kept me as far away from everything as possible because he said his supporters and funders would not be pleased with this side project. You also need to know that KnIFE was not hiding me; I was hiding KnIFE to protect him from people who didn't have the best intentions for Charles Graiman's ideals."**

"**How long have you known about FLAG and all of this?"**

I looked at Sarah with a ridiculous look and shook my head as I crossed my arms.

"**Your father came to me two years ago after being advocated to by my father who wanted help to get his little girl back. Your father was unable to save Leanne Smith in time but he was able to save me and from this time until sometime in the mid fall, I am unsure as to the date exactly he had my face reconstructed to look like Lisa Scott. He then schooled me on how to be Lisa and sent me and KnIFE into hiding. I spent the last two years pretending to be Lisa Scott while training in various forms of hand to hand combat."**

Sarah looked at me and pinched her nose before rubbing her temples.

"**Alright, let me get everyone else in here and you can give them your story as well. We vote on all of our decisions around here and try to give everyone an equal say." **


End file.
